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Man charged in Gulf Breeze woman's drowning

Christopher Lindsay, 43 was arrested today near the Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County line, charged with murder in the death of 55-year-old Lorie Musil, according to a news release from the GB police department.(Photo: Special to the News Journal)

A Navarre man has been arrested for allegedly drowning a local woman last week behind the Bridge Bar in Gulf Breeze — the first murder within city limits since the 1980s, according to the Gulf Breeze Police Department.

Christopher Lindsay, 43, was arrested Friday at a residence near the Santa Rosa and Okaloosa County line, charged with murder in the death of 55-year-old Lorie Musil, according to a news release from the police department.

Gulf Breeze Police Officers responded Nov. 23 to a missing persons report and suspicious circumstances at the Bridge Bar and Sunset Lounge, near the foot of the Pensacola Bay Bridge.

According to video surveillance footage, Musil had been at the bar the night before and walked outside with a man, later identified as Lindsay.

Musil’s body was found on the rocks near the water during a police search of the area Nov. 23, and an autopsy later revealed she died from intentional facial submersion, or drowning.

Gulf Breeze Police Chief Robert Randle said Musil did not know Lindsay before meeting him at the bar.

“She just met him the night that she was killed,” Randle said.

The community has rallied around Musil's family on social media and through a GoFundMe page, which had raised more than $5,000 through 72 donations as of Friday afternoon.

According to the page, the funds will be used for a celebration of life ceremony for Musil, and any remaining money will go toward expenses to continue to raise her youngest son, Hunter.

Musil's celebration of life ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Bridge Bar, 33 Gulf Breeze Parkway, according to a Facebook post by her son, Adam.

"A very sad, untimely and unfortunate event happened that took our mom's life last week," states the GoFundMe description, which is signed by Musil's children Jennifer, Adam, Candace and Hunter. "It was very sudden and completely unexpected. Everyone that knew her loved her bubbly, happy, kind and loving spirit."

Randle said Lindsay was arrested on felony drug charges during a traffic stop about a week before the murder, but he was released on bond. According to Santa Rosa County Jail records, Lindsay was booked Nov. 16 and released Nov. 18 after posting a $72,500 bond.

Lindsay had also been arrested 14 times in Okaloosa County since 2001, most recently on Oct. 6 for driving with a suspended license, according to Okaloosa County jail records. Other previous charges included driving under the influence, probation violation and possession of prescription drugs and cocaine.

Randle said Lindsay was quickly identified in the surveillance video, but he could not be immediately arrested for Musil’s murder.

“We had to wait on the autopsy and medical examiner’s findings and all that,” Randle said. “And we were gathering more evidence, so it just took us a while to get it all together.”

After his arrest Friday, the Gulf Breeze Police Department executed a search warrant on a sailboat being used by Lindsay at the marina behind the Bridge Bar.

Lindsay was arrested without incident and booked into the Santa Rosa County jail with no bond.